COLUMBIA — On paper, South Carolina football‘s schedule in October is far from easy.
The Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 SEC) face No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 4 Alabama then No. 13 Oklahoma in three consecutive weeks, with only one of those games in Williams-Brice Stadium. First-year starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers, has been battle-tested through the past two games, and faced injuries in both.
For most of the second quarter at Kentucky on Sept. 7, Sellers was on the sideline or in the locker room with what he said was a hip injury. He returned to finish the game, and practiced 24 hours later with no issue.
In the 36-33 loss to LSU on Saturday, Sellers left the field one snap before halftime. Sellers said an LSU defender rolled up on his ankle while he was getting sacked, and it just “flattened” his ankle.
“In the moment, it was hurting, but at halftime (trainers) took the tape off, looked at it and they re-taped it, figured out nothing was really like crazy wrong,” Sellers said. “They just re-taped it again, and I was good to go.”
Coach Shane Beamer said he thinks Sellers will be fine, and decided after giving him a series in the third quarter that it looked like Sellers couldn’t move like he wanted to, and thought going the rest of the way with backup quarterback Robby Ashford, was the right call.
Ashford took over with big shoes to fill, as Sellers arguably played his best two quarters. Sellers scored on the opening drive of the game and ran for a 75-yard touchdown about 4 minutes before halftime. In the first half, he completed eight of 15 passes for 112 yards to go with 88 rushing yards. He threw an interception, fumbled once and took two sacks.
Ashford finished the game 2-for-4 passing for 42 yards and rushed 11 times for 35 yards. He was sacked three times. In the second half, South Carolina had seven penalties called, one that took away a 43-yard pass downfield that Ashford completed to Dalevon Campbell.
“Those kill drives, because we had some much momentum,” Ashford said of the penalties.
Sellers and Beamer said there’s no immediate nor major concern about his ankle. Sellers left the postgame media room with ice around it, but he walked with no help. However, he may not see the field much in the next two weeks.
South Carolina hosts Akron, a team that is statistically weaker than the Gamecocks, on Saturday (7:30 p.m.). In Week 4, South Carolina has an open date, giving the entire team a rest. With three straight SEC games in October, Beamer may take a more conservative route with Sellers’ recovery this week.
After naming Sellers the starter in August, Beamer said he feels like the Gamecocks can win with more than one quarterback.
Beamer has never alluded to any game this year being easy, or a cake walk, but Sellers was injured back-to-back in the first two SEC games of the year. While it may be a risk to the rhythm, playing Ashford more against Akron can give Sellers optimal rest to prepare for the grueling October schedule.
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin